15 AAP councillors resign in Delhi, form Indraprastha Vikas Party

In a huge setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), 15 councillors resigned from the party on Saturday (May 17) and announced the formation of a new outfit – Indraprastha Vikas Party – citing stalled development work and growing internal discontent.

Also read: Why BJP’s triple-engine sarkar may struggle in Delhi despite mayoral poll sweep

AAP, however, alleged that the ruling BJP was behind the defections and its councillors were offered Rs 5 crore each as part of a "horse-trading operation".

There was no immediate reaction from the BJP.

Goel to head new party

"In the two and a half years since our election, no development work has been carried out. The party (AAP) was too busy with internal conflicts and blame games," senior councillor Mukesh Goel, who will head the new party, was quoted as saying by PTI.

Goel, the leader of the house for AAP in the MCD, told the media, "About 15 councillors have resigned from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party and formed a new party, Indraprastha Vikas Party. Despite being in power, we could not work for the service of the people of Delhi. We could not work due to internal conflicts."

He claimed councillors were not given budgets for developmental work and asserted that the new outfit aims to focus on public welfare and the smooth functioning of the MCD. The move, he said, was confined to the civic body and not aimed at state-level politics.

Among those who have joined the outfit are veteran municipal leader Hemchand Goyal and former AAP councillors Dinesh Bharadwaj, Himani Jain, Usha Sharma, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Kumar, Ashok Pandey, Rajesh Kumar and Anil Rana.

In its official response, AAP alleged, "Since the time of the Mayor election, the BJP has been trying to poach our councillors. Each councillor was offered five crore."

"The BJP does not have a majority to form the Standing Committee or ward committees, so it is resorting to buying people. Because we exposed the BJP's horse-trading attempts during the Mayor election itself, they are now staging a drama by pretending these defections are from another party. But make no mistake, this is a BJP operation from start to finish," the AAP claimed.

With the resignation of 15 councillors, AAP's strength in the 250-member House has come down from 113 to 98. The BJP currently holds the largest number of seats with 117 councillors, while the Congress has 8.

Notably, the anti-defection law does not apply to municipal bodies like the MCD.

(With agency inputs)